Q&A: The Evening Prayer as Optional
The Evening Prayer as Optional
Question
Maimonides rules that the evening prayer is optional, but the Jewish people accepted it upon themselves as an obligation.
1. Is there any practical difference after the custom was accepted to pray it as obligatory?
2. What is the force of the obligation of the evening prayer: custom, or "do not deviate"?
3. Can I decide that I do not accept this custom upon myself and stop praying the evening prayer (by doing annulment of vows or whatever is needed)?
Answer
A custom that was accepted as obligatory is still a custom, and it is binding by virtue of being a custom. An obligation can arise only from the Great Court or from the Talmud (which is equivalent to the Great Court).
A custom accepted by the community at large cannot be annulled. In other words: you can annul your own custom or vow, not that of the public.
There is still the evening recitation of Shema that appears in the prayer service, and that is from the Torah